Bespin's Angel: The story of Rhysati Ynr
by Rhys
Summary: Ever heard of Rogue Squadron? Here I tell the early tale of Rhys, a member who disapeared when Aaron Alstone took over for a time, but who actually didn't die. Turns out she lead a pretty exciting life even before she became a Rogue...
1. Default Chapter

**__**

Bespin's Angel

The story of Rhysati Ynr

CHAPTER ONE

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Three years before A New Hope…

"Can't catch me!" I called over my shoulder as I raced down the south hall of Cloud City. I wasn't looking where I was going—when you live in a place like Bespin, you don't have to. Unless they add a new wing or something onto it, it doesn't matter. By the time you're my age, you can find your way around it blindfolded. Of course, people are _supposed_ to get out of your way if you look like you're in a hurry. It wasn't _my _fault I ran into the man. 

I was still looking behind me when we collided. He almost fell down and I did. He started to fume at me and use all sorts of funny words in other languages while he straightened his cloak, then he looked down and saw me. He sighed and helped me up.

"Next time, child, watch where you're going."

"I am _not _a child. I'm seven years old—almost." 

"Ah," he said, "my mistake. A young lady, then. I apologize." He bowed deep and swept his cape behind him. "But you should _still _be more careful. You might have hurt someone—or even yourself. By the way, what's your name, little lady?"

I giggled. Nobody had ever called me 'little lady' before. "Rhysati Ynr," I answered, mustering all the dignity I could come up with, "and who are you?"

"Lando Calrissian," he replied with a big smile, and kissed me hand.

"You aren't from Cloud City, are you," I accused. 

"Not at all. And that's why I'm in a bit of a predicament. You see, I'm trying to contact the Baron Administrator, but I simply don't know which way to turn. Might you be able to help me, Miss Ynr?"

"I'm Rhys," I corrected him. "Sure. Do you want to go to his office?"

"Could you direct me there?" he asked anxiously.

"I'll take you there, Mr. Calrissian!" 

"Better than I could have hoped for!" He took my arm, "lead on, Rhys!"

I waited for Mr. Calrissian outside the Baron Administrator's office. It was pretty neat, because I'd never been in there before. It was a really pretty room. It had a big, big window that you could see all the clouds out of. There was a lot of molding around the window, and a bunch of plants in the room. I picked one of the flowers, because they were lovely, and put it in my braid. I thought it looked neat, and I don't know why the receptionist droid got so mad at me. It was only _one _flower. And it _did _look really nice in my hair. Mr. Calrissian even said so when he came back out. 

He was acting really funny, and asked me if I could get home all right. I just looked at him, and said that of course I could. I knew Bespin like the back of my hand. He had a really far away look in his eyes, like he was thinking really hard about something. I just shrugged and walked away. Then I smiled and skipped home. I'd met a really nice new friend. Maybe I'd be able to see him again soon. I liked Mr. Calrissian. He was funny.

It was almost a week later when I saw him next. It was on the holo-news. Our Baron Administrator had resigned, and Mr. Calrissian was the new one. That didn't mean anything to me. It was just another name for him. My mommy behaved really funny when I told her he was my friend. I told _everyone _that I knew Mr. Calrissian. Nobody believed me, though, not even Elisio, my best friend. I sure showed them, when Mr. Calrissian showed up at our house. Elisio was over, and even _he _couldn't think of anything to say—which he _always _can, even when it would be better if he didn't. 

Mr. Calrissian knocked on our door and mommy almost fainted when he asked if she had a daughter named Rhys. I think she thought that I'd been really bad or something and Mr. Calrissian was coming to yell, because she got real pale. Elisio followed me when I ran out to say hi and he just stood there and looked. Mr. Calrissian asked me if _I _could help him with something. Elisio was _so _jealous! Mommy said that of course I could, so the next day I dressed-up really fancy and went to a dinner party with him. He told me to just sit really quiet unless he looked at me and said "is that so". Then I was supposed to tell him if the person he was meeting was telling the truth or making stuff up. If I didn't know, I was just supposed to sit quiet and he'd still be okay. 

Mr. Calrissian told me the person's name, but I can't really remember. It was "Vigo" something-or-other and Mr. Calrissian told me he was really important, but I don't know how he could be a "black sun, cause he was really pale and looked just like a normal person, at least to me. A really scary lady came with the guy. She was even paler than he was, and had short blond hair and very, very cold eyes. Nobody told me what her name was, but she scared me. She looked mean and dangerous, and she wasn't wearing much of anything, but she didn't _seem _like the "not-ladies" people that mommy told me to stay away from that dressed like that. Since Mr. Calrissian and the other people ignored her, I tried to, too. 

The Vigo-person said all sorts of stuff that wasn't true, but a lot of it was _almost _true, enough that Mr. Calrissian was fooled, because he was new here. _I _knew better, and I helped him a lot, but the Vigo-person got really mad at me and said something about lying brats. Than Mr. Calrissian told him to "watch his mouth, you're in the presence of ladies," and that, "if you can bring _her _along, I can invite any (a word I'm not allowed to say) person I want to, thank you, sir." The Vigo-person went a little pink and _harrumphed_ a couple of times, but he didn't say anything to that. 

I spilled juice on my dress and my hair fell in the ice-treat we ate for dessert, but I had a good time. Mommy wasn't even mad that I'd stained my best dress when I got home. She called everybody she knew and told them, even though I told her not to. After all, all I did was eat dinner and tell Mr. Calrissian when the mean Vigo-person lied. 

Elisio was mad at me and we had a fight after that, but it wasn't my fault. He was acting like a baby. I'm allowed to have as many friends as I want to, and he doesn't have any right to get mad. Just cause Mr. Calrissian liked _me _better, he said I was a mean person and that I wasn't his friend anymore. 

"I am too," I yelled at him, "so there!"

"Are not!" he shouted back, "cause I don't like you anymore!"

"You're just jealous!"

"Am not!"

"Am too!" 

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not, so there!" he yelled.

"Baby baby baby."

"Meanie meanie meanie."

"Well, _nyah_."

"Double _nyah _to you."

"Well you aren't' my friend anymore!" I shouted.

"Good!"

"Good!" I shouted and I walked away.

We were in a fight for a _whole three days_ before he finally apologized. Well, he didn't really apologize, but he asked me if I wanted to go to a vid-show with him. I did, and we were friends again.

I wanted to invite Mr. Calrissian to my birthday party, but nobody would let me talk to him—not even Lobot, his friend. Lobot just told me that Mr. Calrissian was "a very busy man, and he has a lot of things to do," which is what is called a run-around. I didn't like it, but Elisio came and he gave me a really neat pair of skates, so it didn't matter. I tried to skate like you would at _Sky Center Galeria_, but I fell over and knocked the punch off the table and it landed on Elisio and me. We were really funny looking, with purple punch all over us and a big bowl stuck on our heads like some kinda hat. We laughed a lot, but mommy was mad. We had to go change, but then she was happy again and she took us to _Sky Center Galeria_ and I got to try my new skates for real. 

When Mr. Calrissian came back from wherever he was he didn't come see me anymore. He waved when I said hi, but he never asked me to help again. I think I messed-up at something at the dinner. Or maybe it was after that, but he didn't visit me anymore. I was sad. But then Elisio got to go with his daddy and big sister (who's really mean) on a trip. They went on a big cruise ship, and I got to go to. I was really happy and I forgot about how I'd messed-up for Mr. Calrissian. 

On my twelfth birthday, Elisio gave me something special. He gave me a kiss, and he asked me to the Moonlight Dance with him. Mom thought I was too young to go, but daddy and Uncle Gal convinced her to let me. (Uncle Gal isn't really my uncle—he's Elisio's dad. I'd just known him for so long that I called him uncle, just like Elisio called my parents aunt and uncle. Daddy and Uncle Gal were best friends from when they were kids, which is how Elisio and I met.) 

I got the prettiest dress in the world. It had a long, flowing underskirt of dark gray-green. Over that there was a knee-length skirt. It had a jagged, slanting cut and was a russet gold. It was just on the edge of being slinky, and came all the way up with little spaghetti straps. Strips of very light, flowing cloth the same color as the underskirt hung off in an almost-ruffle. Elisio brought a beautiful Alderaanian Lilly that I plaited into my hair. He said I looked beautiful and kissed me again. I blushed and daddy laughed at me, so I hit him. That made Elisio laugh. I couldn't think of a comeback, so I stuck out my tongue and crossed my eyes. Of course, daddy had to go and take a picture of _that_. So I hit him again, but then mom rushed in and said we were going to be late, so Elisio and I had to leave. 

The dance was the most awesome thing in the world. There were so many people there! But nobody had a dress even half as pretty as I had on. It was absolutely marvelous. I danced, and danced, and danced until I thought my feet would fall off—but I was good. I danced with Elisio almost all the time, and I made sure that the last dance of the night I was with him. It was the prettiest song I'd ever heard. It was new, and I'd never heard it before:

__

Heavenly angel,

Heavenly angel,

I love you so-o-o.

Heavenly angel,

Heavenly angel,

I need you so-o-o-o.

But you don't

Belong to me

No matter how

I wish it so.

Heavenly angel,

Heavenly angel,

I miss you so.

You know

That I love you forever,

And always again.

But you know,

Heavenly angel,

Heavenly angel,

You are not mine

You 

Will never be mine.

Heavenly angel,

Heavenly angel,

I love you so-o-o.

Heavenly angel,

Heavenly angel,

I need you so-o-o-o.

But you don't

Belong to me

No matter how

I wish it so.

Heavenly angel,

Heavenly angel,

I miss you so.

Indeed,

You belong to no man,

Only your heart,

It will always be thus

Heavenly angel,

Heavenly angel,

Not even when 

I 

Wish that you would.

Heavenly angel,

Heavenly angel,

I love you so-o-o.

Heavenly angel,

Heavenly angel,

I need you so-o-o-o.

But you don't

Belong to me

No matter how

I wish it so.

Heavenly angel,

Heavenly angel,

I miss you so.

You have to save

Everyone here

Even if that

Means you loose me.

You have to save

Everyone there.

Heavenly angel,

You are my angel,

But you're not mine.

Heavenly angel,

Don't play this angle,

Not with my heart.

But I know

You have not choice,

For you are an angel,

A heavenly angel,

Oh my heavenly angel,

Please 

Don't

Go.


	2. Chapter Two: During "The Empire Strikes ...

CHAPTER TWO

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During The Empire Strikes Back…

Elisio and I had been going steady ever since the Moonlight Dance when we were twelve. Sure, there'd been the little fights, short-term breakups, whatever. We were still best friends; we were just best _boy-_and-_girl_-friends, too. We were on a date at the _Blue Room Cantina_, when I looked out the window of the café, and saw the oddest sight. Two Bespin Security Guards were pushing what looked like a coffin, and an armored man strode behind them. "What in…" The buzz of conversation hushed, and you could hear bits and pieces of it. The consensus was that that was Boba Fett, the galaxy's hardest, most fearsome bounty hunter. What he was doing here, on Cloud City, we didn't know. It would, I knew, be a conversation topic for ages, especially among some of the more gossipy friends I had. Then we heard Calrissian's message:

"Attention! This is Lando Calrissian! Attention! The Empire had taken control of the city! I advise everyone to leave before more Imperial Troops arrive."

We all panicked—the Empire? _Here_? Why would the Empire be here? It wasn't even something out of nightmares! Cloud City was so small—why in the world would the Empire be interested in it? Nobody knew, and some people didn't even believe—but Lando Calrissian had just announced it, citywide. Then, things got worse.

We heard the stormtroopers. 

They were marching everywhere, shooting at anything. Stormtroopers may have lousy aim, but what they lack in marksmanship they _more _than made up for in their numbers. The screams, the laser-blasts, the shrieks of terror and pain, stormtroopers marching, people fleeing…as long as I live, I'll never, ever forget those sounds. They'll stay with me for the rest of my life. Which, of course, might not be all that long. If I want to live long enough to try and forget the sounds, I have to get off Cloud City. 

That should be easy. _Alive _is the hard part. 

Elisio and I just tried to get out of there. We were running towards docking bay Z-4—my daddy had a half-share in a ship he and a partner owned together. We knew they'd wait for us, if we could only get there before the stormtroopers. But then—then we heard the scream. It was a child. I stopped—I _had _to. There was an innocent child in pain. They hadn't asked for this, they didn't want this. They needed someone to help them. 

So I tried. 

"Ssh," I knelt down next to the little boy, "it's okay. It's all right. I'm Rhys. Are you okay?" 

He shook his head, biting his lip in pain as tears streamed down his cheeks. "No? It's okay. Just tell me where it hurts." He pointed to his arm—and the blaster-burn I hadn't seen before. I sucked in my breath—it didn't look good. Then again, I hadn't seen many blaster-burns before in my life, so I couldn't really compare it with anything. "Oh, that's all right. Not too big, it's not very bad at all. You'll be fine."

"Promise?" he asked me, trust and pain searingly mixed in his large, tear-filled eyes. 

I couldn't bring myself to speak, but he needed an answer… "I promise."

I ripped at my light blue overskirt, fixing a type of bandage. I secured it around his arm while he sat there, trusting that everything would be all right now. Elisio was anxiously hovering next to us. 

"Rhys, hurry," he began, but I shut his voice out and concentrated on trying to tie it securely without adding to the boy's pain.

The boy hugged me tightly. "Thank you," he whispered. 

"Rhys," I realized it wasn't the first time Elisio said my name. "Rhys, come on. We have to go. They won't be able to keep the ship there forever. Come on, you helped, let's go."

I looked up, not even recognizing him at first. "But Elisio," I looked at him uncomprehendingly, "there's people _dying _here. We _have _to help them."

He started to protest, but something in my face made him change his mind. "Fine, let's just try to get to that ship while you play hero, okay?"

"I'm not '_playing_' anything, Elisio. People are _dying_—" 

"Help me, please help," a voice cut me off. An old man clutched at my skirt. He was crawling—when I looked at what was left of his legs I saw why. I caught sight of blaster fire in the corridor he'd come from. "Please—my granddaughter—she's just a baby—she's in there. I can't find her. I can't find her, please—"

"Of course," I replied, moved by the poor old man. I thought for sure that I recognized him, but I couldn't place it. It didn't matter, if there was an innocent kid under stormtrooper fire and possibly being shot, I had to try my best to get her out.

"Rhys—" Elisio sounded exasperated.

"You try and help—" I swallowed past the bile threatening to rise in my throat. "You help him. I'll go get the girl, don't worry."

"Rhys—" he began again, but I wouldn't let Elisio go under the blaster fire. They were more likely to see him as a threat than some thin woman in an evening gown…possibly screaming about "her baby"…that might work, they'd think I was just some panicked woman looking for her kid. As I crept cautiously towards the corridor, it came to me where I'd seen the man. He was some kind of bureaucrat in charge of something or other…no, he used to be, I corrected myself. He'd been beaten in some kind of election held by the board partners…had made a huge fuss, too. Everyone thought he was some finicky old man unwilling to see when it was time to retire. His granddaughter…I'd seen her on holos before. A sickly looking little kid—I think she had some kind of rare, terminal disease she was slowly dying from. It would probably be better if a stormtrooper had gotten her, save her a long lingering death—I started, appalled at myself. Where had _that _come from? It was…wasn't _right_, thinking like that! It was low, it was…was Imperial! It sounded like something a stormtrooper would say, like something—like something I'd heard Elisio arguing with dad and Uncle Gal about. I shook my traitorous head and forced my mind to return to the situation at hand. I cautiously poked my head around the corner—and almost got it blown off by a blaster shot. I leaned against the wall heavily, panting. That was too close.

Carefully, I looked again. A stormtrooper fired at me, but one of his fellow Imps looked over and said must have said something over his comm, because the other stopped firing before I painfully hit the floor. I looked over my shoulder expecting to see smoke from a shot that had hit me, but instead saw the small boy wrapped around my knees after tackling me out of the trooper's blast. I looked up and saw a sickly little girl. I waved her over, and then picked her up. I started to creep out of the way, but the boy was still watching the stormtroopers. 

"Rhys," he screamed, "look out!" 

Without thinking, I threw myself backwards. My shoulder glanced off another person, knocking them to the floor with me, as blaster fire inscribed a bloody arc over our heads. 

"Thanks," the person I'd knocked over and I said simultaneously—me to the boy, him to me. 

"Sorry for knocking you over," I said.

"Don't worry about it." He managed a weak smile, dusting his orange jumpsuit off. "You probably saved my life." He picked up the odd white contraption he was carrying—it looked kind of like one of those things that makes ice-treats. He gave me a hand up; mine were full with the sickly looking little girl.

The boy took my hand with his good arm and we quickly returned to the old man. Elisio was siting by him, an odd look on his face. It was something between disgust and resignation—the look he makes when forced to eat something he hates and pretend he enjoys it. He had at least taken off his outer jacket and used to semi-bandage some of the old man's legs. The man had his eyes closed against pain. 

"Gra'pa!" the little girl wiggled out of my arms. He started up immediately.

"Seri!" his voice was husky as he grabbed her up in a fervent embrace, the tears on his cheeks now those of joyous relief rather than pain. He clasped my shoulder. "Thank you—" he cleared his throat and tried again. "Thank you, thank you so much. I'll never be able to repay you—you've saved my—my grand—my—thank you." He put a hand on the boy's shoulder, too, thanking him silently as words failed him. I offered a genuine smile, happy that I had helped, that I had been able to see such overwhelming joy. I hoped I'd be able to love and be loved that much by someone someday. 

The boy smiled proudly. "No problem, sir! Rhys here, she's an angel. I was jus' helping her!" 

The old man smiled at me. "That she is son, that she is. Thank you." He hurried off, clutching the little girl to him. I found that I had to wipe tears from my own eyes. 

"Rhys, c'mon, let's get out of here. See you, kid." Elisio grabbed my hand and tried to pull me away. I resisted, leaning down to take the little boy's hand in mine. He had looked so hopeful—begging me to let him come. 

"Come on, buddy. There's plenty more good we can do," I smiled at the boy, who was practically dancing with joy, his scorched arm all but forgotten in his happiness. 

"Rhys," Elisio began pleadingly.

Blaster fire cut him off. 

Blaster fire and screams. 

With a tightening throat, I raced forward. One of those screams…I skidded around the corner and then dove for the floor. A group of stormtroopers went pounding around the corner, people screaming, trying to get out of the way…both of the troopers and of their laser fire. The troopers continued on, pouring fire at the retreating backs of…_Lando Calrissian_! And a short brunette woman I'd never seen before, an astromech droid, and a…was that a Wookiee? Yes, it was a Wookiee, with some kind of droid strapped to his back. I saw the woman turn and return fire. The Wookiee yanked her around a corner, then stopped and fired, dropping troopers. Without thinking, I snatched one of the fallen troopers blasters, and shot one of them in the back. _A dead on shot…he was out like a light._ I shot again, and again. Five more troopers dropped, and there was some wild fire accompanying mine. I turned and saw the boy, with the blaster cradled in his good arm, squeezing off shots at the troopers. He even hit one, right in the back of the helmet, who spun around and dropped to the floor, smoking. I saw the boy about to scream joyously—_I go tone, I got one!_ I caught his eye and shook my head. I saw the confusion on his face, _why not?_ _They'll hear_, I mouthed back over the din. He nodded, comprehension in his eyes. The troopers continued running, and I was all set to chase the chasers, help Calrissian get off safely, when I saw the old man, a smoking hole in his shoulder. I went down at his side, already ripping at my skirt. 

"Where's…Seri?" he whispered. 

"I'll fin her," the boy called over my shoulder, and began scouring the hallway.

"Have to…get her…" he coughed.

"Shush, it's okay. It'll be fine. Just get to a med center, you'll be fine." I tried not to let my hands shake too much as I stanched the flow of blood.

"Seri…" he whispered. 

"We'll find her, I promise you. We'll bring her to you, take care of her. She'll be fine. She'll be fine," I assured him.

He nodded, closing his eyes against a shudder of pain. "Angel…"   
"What?" I leaned closer, trying to hear him. 

"Angel," he breathed. "You're…Bespin's Angel. Thank…you. You did…all there was…helped me, saved…me. Thank you…Angel. May the…Force be…with…" with a final, shuddering breath, he settled down limply. I watched, desperately, but no breath lifted his bloodstained chest. I blinked away tears, furiously. I wouldn't—couldn't—cry, not now, not yet. I had to be strong—had to be an Angel. 

The boy came over to me. I looked at him, but he shook his head, wordlessly, pointing to a bloody lump in a corner. I shuddered, then looked at him. I hugged him, tightly. "It's okay. We can't save them all."

"Sure we can." He gave me a cocky grin, "you're an Angel! You'll save _everybody_!" I smiled back. I believed him, I decided that, yes, I _would _save them all. _We _would. Elisio shook my shoulder. He looked pale through the smoke on his face.

"Rhysati, let's go. Now. Come on. No more games. This is _real_, people are dying—"

I didn't want to hear what I knew he was going to say next. It wasn't him talking, this new, fearful Elisio. I knew the real Elisio would be back soon. I didn't want to believe this one. I cut him off, "good point. Come on, let's go. There are more people here who need help."

"Rhys!" Elisio was exasperated through the fear. The boy, though, took my hand and we moved on, to a woman sitting on the floor, clutching her face, sobbing uncontrollably. 

"What hurts, ma'am?" I asked her.

"My eyes, my eyes," she moaned, "I'm blind, my eyes!"

"Let me see," I gentle took her hands away from her face. It was scorched red, with a blaster graze on her forehead. The boy's arm had looked worse, so I figured it wasn't too bad. Besides, what good would it do to tell her something she was already afraid of? I tore a strip from my overskirt and gentle tied it around the worst part of the blaster scorching. "Don't worry. I think the laser just grazed you. It seemed to miss your eyes, too. I think the blindness you're feeling is probably nothing more than temporary, from the light when it flashed by." 

"You-you're right," she said excitedly, "I think it's coming back…I can see, I can see!" 

I smiled at her. "I'm so glad."

"Thank you, thank you, miss…what's your name, miss?"

I started to answer, but the boy spoke up first. "She's Bespin's Angel."

"Bespin's Angel…yes, you are. Thank you." 

I smiled encouragingly, though from the way the woman was blinking, I figured that she probably couldn't see clear details like a facial expression. "You're welcome. Do you need any more help?"

"No, no, I'll be fine. Thank you, Bespin's Angel." I helped her to her feet, and she stumbled down the corridor. I turned to see to someone else, when Elisio caught my arm. 

"Rhys. You are being an idiot. We have got to go, now!" Elisio looked…different than I'd ever seen him before.

"Elisio, what are you talking abou—"

"Rhys, you're having fun, I know this. But this isn't some holo-drama where the hero survives! This is real life, where people get killed!" he yelled in a funny voice, "come on, send the kid somewhere—kriff, bring him with you if you want, but let's go!" He grabbed my arm and started dragging me away.

"Stop, Elisio! Stop it! We have to—we have to help—we—Elisio, let me go! Let go, you're hurting me, let go!" The boy ran up and threw himself at Elisio, trying to make him let me go. Elisio slapped the boy, hard, and he fell in a huddle.

I understood then. He was scared. Brave, powerful, strong Elisio was scared out of his wits. And he didn't know what to do. He'd probably imagined the moment many times, the moment when something would go wrong and he would save everyone. This wasn't how he'd imagined it. Just like he said, this wasn't' some holo-drama. This was real life. And people were really in pain. And I had to help them. 

"Let _go_!" I wrenched my arm free. "Elisio. Go on, get out of here. I don't care. Leave. But I'm staying as long as I have to; I'm going to help these people. I want you to understand this, because we may never see each other again: I have to help. All my life, it was pretty easy. But I was raised to help. I never saw trouble, never saw pain, before this. Now that I have, I know what I have to do. This Empire is evil, Elisio, you can see that, too. And I'm going to take it apart. I have no illusions. I more than realize that I can hardly do a thing to the Empire. But whatever I can do, I will. Even if I never get off of Cloud City, I'm going to do everything that I can to work against the Empire. If I do get out of here, then I'll do anything I can to take it down. 

"I also want you to know," I continued, "that I don't hate you. I love you, Elisio. You're the best friend I ever had. If it hadn't been for the Empire, maybe we could have been more. But we can't, and we won't, I know this now. We're standing at a crossroads, Elisio. Maybe, a week before this, we would have gone down the same path. Who knows, but it's a moot point. Because we're very different people, and we have very different lives to lead. You go your way…" I could barely keep from breaking into tears as I spoke, "and I'll go mine."

He stared at me for a moment, and I wanted, desperately, for him to walk over to me and say that, of course he was going the same way I was, that he was wrong, that I had a good point. That he would stay. But he didn't say that. Instead, he nodded at me, quite solemnly, and said, like the voice of doom, "goodbye, Rhys. Good luck." 

Then he walked away.

I moved like a machine after that, seeing little, comprehending less. Through it all, the boy was ever at my shoulder, helping me tend the wounded, comfort the injured, soothe the frightened. I moved in a haze, smoke obscuring my vision. Shock, I believe now. Then, I just moved. Everywhere, either the old man's words preceded me, or the boy supplied them. "Bespin's Angel." I heard it from those I helped, those I saved…and those I didn't. I couldn't get to everyone, no matter how hard I tried. And there were more, always more. Many, too many…

I turned down another corridor and froze. I grabbed the boy's shoulder and dragged him back with me, behind the wall. We peeked out, staring. It was him…Darth Vader. He stalked by with a battalion of stormtroopers. "Alert my Star Destroyer," Vader said ominously to the Imperial Officer behind him, "to prepare for my arrival."

My breath caught in my throat as I watched numbly as he and his soldiers continued on their way, uninterrupted by the chaos and destruction around them. Maybe…maybe even, somehow, taking a kind of sadistic pleasure out of the pain they had caused, both directly and indirectly, through their actions. That's when I knew that I was right. I knew that Elisio had been wrong, that just because we didn't know someone didn't mean we didn't have an obligation to help them. I understood what the whole Rebellion was about then, and why they had to win, no matter the odds against them. It didn't matter, even, if they had to give all their lives. That creature, and those like him, must be stopped. At any cost. The little nagging voice of doubt inside me was silenced, the voice that had agreed with Elisio the whole time. I knew, then, that what I'd done had been right.

One of the stormtroopers must have heard, because he turned. He casually turned and fired a laserblast over his shoulder. There was no reason for it. It was done for purely punitive reasons, plain sadistic pleasure. I felt the boy stiffen in my arms. I smelled the burning flesh, could hear his choked-back scream, deep in his small throat. I lifted him into my arms, trying not to jar him any more than I had to. I didn't stop then, even though I'm sure I passed someone who called out to me and tried to get me to stop and help. I had to get the boy onto a ship, get him away from here. I should never have allowed him to stay with me. He was so young, and he as already hurt, scorched by a stormtrooper's laser. Now he'd been shot again, much worse, I could tell. And all because of me!

"Rhys…" his voice was a rattling whisper, "am I gonna…gonna be…okay?"

"Yes," I answered him, "of course you will be. I promise. I'll take car eof you. You and me, we're leaving now. We'll stop the Empire together. We'll…we'll join the Rebel Alliance, then we'll tech those stormtroopers to pick on someone their own size. We'll take the whole Empire down, you and me. I promise."

"Bespin's…" he coughed, "Bespin's Angel…thank you…for letting me…letting me help…" I think he said something else then, but I couldn't hear him over the tumultuous noise of the crowd inside the hanger bay. I saw the familiar and welcoming sight of my family's ship, but it was already airborne.

"Here—you, girl! Come on, we're leaving!" Someone standing by a large "cruise" type ship shouted at me, pushing me in with the refugee throng hurrying aboard the ship. I stumbled in with them blindly.

The ship took of then, and I turned to get what could very well be the last look at my home. "Goodbye, Bespin," I whispered, and looked down at the boy I'd promised to save, wondering what he thought of leaving his home behind, and began to tell him that everything would be okay, that I'd keep him safe, that we'd leave and take on the Empire that had stolen our home.

I sat, numbly staring. People moved all around me, there was noise, screams, so much noise. I didn't hear any of it. I didn't see anything. Someone spoke to me but I couldn't understand them. There was this awful ringing in my ears that made it hard to hear anything. My dress was covered in blood and it dried, sticky, on my legs but I didn't notice that until later. I just sat there in a kind of haze, clutching the small boy securely in my lap. If I held him tightly enough, I could protect him from anything. I had to. I had promised. I didn't even know his name, but I knew that I had to save him. If I could save him, it would make up for all the people I…make up for everything. I _had _to save him, I had to. I had promised. 

He had stopped breathing a long time ago.


	3. 

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE

__

During The Return of the Jedi

I never saw Elisio again. I don't know if he's even still alive. Sometimes I remember him and wish I could see him again, but we made our good-byes a long time ago for good. I did find my parents again, but things haven't been the same since. Mom just doesn't understand what's going on in the galaxy anymore! She thinks the best thing to do is try to hold the family together and let things be, than everything will just work out in the end. 

But it won't! She doesn't realize that while she dithers around trying to "hold the family together" whole _species_ are slaughtered by the Empire! She seems to think that we're the only ones that ever got hurt by Vader and the Emperor, but she couldn't be more wrong. We're the luck ones; we survived, and together even! Or maybe that makes us the _un_-lucky ones… Sometimes, I wish I'd been the one to die in those white tunnels, cut down by some white-armored stormtrooper's blood-red blast. 

But only sometimes. Other times I know that I can do a lot more than I'm doing here on this tiny planet. I won't even bother mentioning the name, it's too out of the way. A refugee planet, mainly. For people like us, yeah. But for people a lot worse off. Aliens, deemed second-class citizens by this sadistic regime. I wasn't even born when the Old Republic held sway, but I know it had to have been better than this. Why? Because it couldn't be any worse! There is no way in whatever hells there are that things could have been worse when the Jedi were around, when the old Senate still ran things…before Palpatine got himself elected Chancellor. What were those people thinking? Whatever it was, they doomed us with it…

I do my best, but not my part. Whenever I can, I head to the refugee shelters set up. I try to comfort the people there, try to heal them, feed them, draw them back into the land of the living, but it's so hard! Some of them run away when they see me coming, because I'm a human. Because I'm the same species as Darth Vader, and Palpatine, and the white-armored, emotionless, hate-filled stormtroopers who killed their family, burned their homes, and murdered their hope.

But it isn't enough. It won't be enough until I can make them realize that humans aren't as bad as those creatures, that I'm not as bad as stormtroopers, or Vader, or the Emperor, or the admirals who sit up in their _Star Destroyers_, or the TIE pilots who strafe their planets.

Besides, I can fly better than those helmeted losers. I've been practicing, spending every moment I have away from the shelters and home in the sims. They're illegal, and mom doesn't know about them. Some smuggler brought them in or something, but they've been set up in the back of this run-down cantina. I tell mom I'm going to visit my friends, and I am. The people I fly against in there are the best friends I have anymore. They may not help me change bandages or comfort orphans, but lots of them are trying to fight against the Empire. It may be an exercise in futility, but I know it isn't. Hope is never futile. 

Going here isn't, either. It's one of the most dangerous things you can do on this planet. Every day there's the chance that the local governor's found out about them and stormtroopers are waiting inside those doors to grab you. That's why we don't even look at the faces of the other people in there with us, and why we don't use our own names. There's a small door into a hallway in the back of the dive, and you walk through it and put on a black mesh mask. Then you go through the door. I mean, you can tell a little bit about what they look like, but unless you're really distinctive, they can't tell who you are, and you can't tell who they are. And most of them wouldn't snitch on you, anyway.

There's this one guy, though…I don't know. I'm worried about him. He always acts so restrained when we pick on some parts of the Empire, but talking about others, he just seems…I don't know. Too vehement, maybe? Anyway, he doesn't ring quite true, but that's probably because I'm paranoid. Too much time on this planet will do that to you. And I've been here way too long. I need to get out of here and put my skills to better use than trading simulated whacks with some mystery creature in a scummy dive on this backwater nowhere planet. If there's a bright center to the universe, you couldn't be farther from. Unless you were on Coruscant, the homeward of the Empire. Palpatine lives there. I would never, ever want to see that creature. Seeing Vader on Cloud City was bad enough; I can't even imagine what it would be like to see _him _in person. 

Unless I had a sniper rifle in my hands, or I was in a X-WING or something like that. I've dreamed that moment millions of times, sometimes even when I'm awake. Like when I'm in the sim vaping a particularly difficult TIE, or when I see what the stormies did to some poor little kid just cause he or she happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then I wish I could meet him, if only to send him back under whatever rock he crawled out from under—in pieces. Smoking, burning pieces. And lots of blood. And more pain than you could feel in a thousand, million deaths—because he has a lot more than that many on whatever soul he used to have, once-upon-a-time. 

What? Marka, grabbing my arm…

"Marka," I ask, "what's going on?" She drags me into a corner alleyway, to a crowd growing around a vid screen. He was a lot taller, and really really strong for how skinny he was. I forget what species he was; we always laughed about how he was really short for his age, and had to fold his legs into his gut to fit inside the sim. If he didn't have two elbows and knees on each arm and leg, he wouldn't have even been able to get in. He was sad that he'd probably never be able to fit inside a real X-WING. By the time he got old enough to leave planet, had enough money, and got a hold of the Rebel Alliance, he'd be too tall. But that didn't stop him from saving every decacred to buy a ship, or at least a ticket off planet. He always carried it with him—both the money and his dream. 

He lifted me up with his phenomenally long, strong arms, so that I could see over the heads of the crowd in front. We both watched in numb silence as the grainy, obviously amateur, patched-in holo continued. Half of a Death Star hung, like black death, in space above a green planet. The contrast made me shiver. There was obviously a battle going on around the camera, which shook and jerked around like it was being held to a viewport, or was maybe planted on the side of a big ship…medical frigate, maybe? There was no noise at all, eerily, but what was happening was all too clear. We watched with bated breath as a rag-tag group of X- B- and A-WINGS darted in and out among TIEs and Imperial craft. 

Suddenly, an A-WING flew _out _of the unfinished weapon of destruction, followed a few moments later by an X-WING. I crossed my finger and wished both pilots luck—suddenly, the Death Star went up like a super nova! A YT-1300, or maybe 1400, flew out of the expanding fire. The picture continued for a few seconds before the authorities got to it and clicked it off. Marka set me down and we stared at each other, mute. As if on cue, everyone suddenly cheered, myself included.

We didn't know what exactly had happened, but we knew that the Rebellion had just blown up another Death Star before it could make another Alderaan. The cheering went on even after the shooting had started. We just didn't realize it. But the Empire had arrived, and the stormtroopers were mowing down anyone they saw. Marka and I rushed across the street towards the cantina, I doing my best to keep up with his longer and more agile legs. Suddenly, he shoved me as hard as he could and I went sprawling across the tarmac. He fell, then, cut down by a man dressed in black who was hiding in the doorway. He was wearing the same outfit as the one I'd been worried about—plus an Imperial symbol. I gasped and pulled a small laser from my pocket. I shot the person before he could fire at me. I rushed over to Marka, who grabbed my hand weakly. 

"Take it…go…stop them…please."

"What are you talking about, Marka?" I asked in confusion.

He pressed a small pouch of credits into my hand. It contained every credit he'd ever owned, saved and pinched for almost his whole life. "What? Marka, I can't take this! It's all your money! What are you do—"

"I'm…dying, Rhys…" he whispered to me. "Have to…take it…please…help…save everyone else…from fate…from…Empire…"

"Marka, no! Marka!" I sobbed over his still body for a few minutes, until the sound of blaster fire knocked me back to reality. I gently closed his eyes and whispered a final goodbye. I also made a promise to him that I would save the rest of the galaxy from the evil that had claimed my friends. 

Then I stood up and tucked the credits in my pocket. I walked to a near, abandoned vid-screen and recorded another goodbye, this one for my parents, before I walked to the starport.

I don't know if they ever got it. They died on that scummy planet, along with lots of my friends I'd made there. But…I have to hope they did. 

If all this tragedy has given me nothing else, it has given me that right. 

__

To hope. Forever.


End file.
